In 1978 I saw "Star Wars" and decided I wanted to be an actor. When they were making the sequel, "The Empire Strikes Back," I used to go up to Elstree Studios at the weekends and stand outside the gates looking in, hanging on to them no doubt looking like some little urchin, dreaming I could be in there. I remember seeing racks of rebel pilot costumes and set pieces and plaques with the "Empire" logo on.
Well, five years later my dad found an ad in the London Evening News, it said, "Film Company looking for thin people," and the address was, Elstree Studios! I applied for a part and received a phone call calling me in for a casting! I remember when I was going for the casting and walking down the Shenley Road in Borehamwood, thinking to myself, "wow, I'm actually going into Elstree Studios!" Upon my arrival I went into the lobby, there I was surrounded by photographs from famous films that had been made there, including "Star Wars!"
I hadn't been there five minutes when a large car pulled up outside and in walked Gary Kurtz, the producer of "Star Wars," I knew I was meant to be there. So, I had the casting, and a week later I received a phone call at the shoe shop where I had spent the last two years bored out of my skull, the guy at the other end of the phone was 2ND AD Tim Reed, and all he said to me was..., "How would you like to join us?" And there I was, beginning my acting career at the place my dreams were created, working with people who had worked on those very films..., The photograph here is of me in prosthetics with the film's director, Tobe Hooper. It's on the first page of the photo album I made from that experience, simply entitled..., Fond Memories of a Dream Come True!
